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[Varche]

Yes the deal was good.

No I havent tried US offering but that sounds like it is also not fitfor purpose.

I bet those climbers stuck in a jam on Everest have better coverage.

Good point on antenna/masts.  Through poor regulation and rush to get service to many the few are overlooked. It could have been different but cheap won.

[zirk]

traditionally O2/Voda had the better 900MHz frequencies (for 2G/3G), and T-Mobile and Orange had the less desirable 1.8GHz.  Although its all been mixed up now.

Takes me back, both Voda and Cellnet used to have the same take it or leave it fixed Charging Fees, £25 per month for the Airtime Service, 25p per Min (33p in London) rounded up to the nearest Min, Diverted calls to your Voicemail where charged per min, then the same charge to retrieve your messages, then all plus Vat, My Bills, just for the Airtime and Calls were on average between £130 to 180 per month, and that was me using it as a bare minimum, couldnt have run my business without it though.

Still remember the first National Poster Advert from Vodafone, A Bloke in a Rowing Boat, Fishing, with the slogan "How to be in when your Out". also in them days only 2 Prefixes, 0860 for Cellnet and 0836 for Voda, still got my Original 0836 Number today.

Then came along Orange, remember the TV and Radio Advert song 1,2,3,4,...... 5,6,7,8, the first Network to charge by the second, Orange was originally owned and Built by Hutchinson Telecom (Wasn't a bad Network as it goes), who sold it off and then started all over again with Three.

At the Launch of Orange, the other PCN Carrier was 121 owned by Mercury Combinations (C&W), who seemed to have built a Network for London and a few Other Major Cities then kinda left it there, I do remember OfCom giving 121 bollockings every now and then, saying either finish it off or pull out and well have your Licences back, which finally got finished off and became T Mobile.

The original idea of the launch of the 2 PCN Networks (Orange and 121-T Mobile) was never really intended for them to be just another Mobile Network, but more of a Network with Value Added Services with ideas like your PCN Phone would automatically become your indoor phone when at Home or at the Office etc, but due to the same GSM Signalling Format it used, Marketing trends and similar Frequency Bands being released around the World they became just that, another Mobile Network in competition with the GSM Boys.

And then the 5th Network Three, the Only Network to be built on 3G Infrastructure (No 2G unless it was handed over to Other Networks to fill the Gaps). Three was originally launched and Marketed as a Video Calling Network, which really didnt take off, and was soon killed off when peeps discovered they could use Skype over the 3G Channels anyway

[TheBoy]

still got my Original 0836 Number today.

Except they have shoved a 7 in

[TheBoy]

Yes the deal was good.

No I havent tried US offering but that sounds like it is also not fitfor purpose.

I bet those climbers stuck in a jam on Everest have better coverage.

Good point on antenna/masts.  Through poor regulation and rush to get service to many the few are overlooked. It could have been different but cheap won.

Everest has no mobile coverage. And satphones are too heave/bulky to haul beyond Base Camp 2.

Why do you think its unfit for purpose? Who has ever promised complete coverage?


As for cheap v universal coverage, market forces dictate that.  Remember, also, most of these rural communities do not want masts in their location.

The coverage maps - not wholly accurate - are available for the 4 UK operators. Differing levels of coverage and differing deals are available, and the UK consumer has choice (and thus better than a state run SNAFU).  Its pretty fair to say, that providing better geographical coverage is more expensive to provide, and thus will be more expensive to the consumer. But, as said, UK consumers have a choice of 4 operators.  Very few people would pick Three for coverage, performance or customer service. Most people picking Three do so because price is more important to them.

[zirk]

still got my Original 0836 Number today.

Except they have shoved a 7 in

Yea, that actually was a God Send for me as it happens.

0836 was the Prefix default number for a lot of the Vodafone Services before it all became 07, also prior to the 07 introduction if you dialed a 6 digit number without the Prefix on the Voda Network (and there were a lot of different Voda Prefix's by then) it would get routed to a 0836 Number whether it was intended to or not.

The story for me was there was a Large Taxi Firm in Rotherham that decided to plaster its 6 digit phone number (without the STD Code) down the side of all its Cabs in Big Print, the last six Digits of thier number was the same as my Voda last 6 digits, meaning after Chucking Out Time, everybody on Vodafone and theres quiet a few of them in the Rotherham and Sheffield Area, would end up calling Me for a Cab. 

It all got a bit frustrating after Midnight in the end  and I came to the conclusion I would either have to change my number or start a Cab Company in Rotherham and probably make a fortune. 

[Lizzie Zoom]

After reading this thread I think I will just be the oldish lady with her 4G phone.

At our age who needs all that complication?

Where have all the A and B button phone boxes gone??

[TheBoy]

still got my Original 0836 Number today.

Except they have shoved a 7 in

Yea, that actually was a God Send for me as it happens.

0836 was the Prefix default number for a lot of the Vodafone Services before it all became 07, also prior to the 07 introduction if you dialed a 6 digit number without the Prefix on the Voda Network (and there were a lot of different Voda Prefix's by then) it would get routed to a 0836 Number whether it was intended to or not.

The story for me was there was a Large Taxi Firm in Rotherham that decided to plaster its 6 digit phone number (without the STD Code) down the side of all its Cabs in Big Print, the last six Digits of thier number was the same as my Voda last 6 digits, meaning after Chucking Out Time, everybody on Vodafone and theres quiet a few of them in the Rotherham and Sheffield Area, would end up calling Me for a Cab. 

It all got a bit frustrating after Midnight in the end  and I came to the conclusion I would either have to change my number or start a Cab Company in Rotherham and probably make a fortune. 

Back in the late 90's my office desk phone was a central London number, followed by a sequential set of numbers.

Never ever going into the office, mostly because it was Watford, my office phone was on permanent divert to my mobile.  I too had to deal with chucking out time

[BazaJT]

I've been with Vodafone ever since getting my first mobile phone in the late '90s only problems connection wise I've had was once on the Woodhead Pass[others on different networks also couldn't get a signal]this was back in 2010 so may have changed by now,and strangely here in town where one of my step daughters lives I have to walk to the end of her street to get a signal! I don't know what all these G numbers mean do all I know is that apart from the two instances noted above I can make/receive phone calls and send receive text messages which is all I ask of my phone.

[TheBoy]

I've been with Vodafone ever since getting my first mobile phone in the late '90s only problems connection wise I've had was once on the Woodhead Pass[others on different networks also couldn't get a signal]this was back in 2010 so may have changed by now,and strangely here in town where one of my step daughters lives I have to walk to the end of her street to get a signal! I don't know what all these G numbers mean do all I know is that apart from the two instances noted above I can make/receive phone calls and send receive text messages which is all I ask of my phone.

Voda is patchy around here.  My works phone was Voda until the last round of TUPE shite.  The nearest place I could get a usable Voda signal was a small kiddies playground 2 streets away.  I'm sure all the yum mums used to think I was a perve or something...

[Lizzie Zoom]

I've been with Vodafone ever since getting my first mobile phone in the late '90s only problems connection wise I've had was once on the Woodhead Pass[others on different networks also couldn't get a signal]this was back in 2010 so may have changed by now,and strangely here in town where one of my step daughters lives I have to walk to the end of her street to get a signal! I don't know what all these G numbers mean do all I know is that apart from the two instances noted above I can make/receive phone calls and send receive text messages which is all I ask of my phone.

Snap.  But I became a Vodafone customer for the first time in 1990 when I had my first full car phone fitted to my new Carlton 2ltr CD.  I used it constantly whilst travelling the whole country on business and I do not remember many issues with coverage, apart from parts of Cornwall and Devon, along with the Lake District, where reception is still patchy today.  Vodafone have always given me an excellent service, and that is why I am still with them after almost 30 years.

[zirk]

The nearest place I could get a usable Voda signal was a small kiddies playground 2 streets away.  I'm sure all the yum mums used to think I was a perve or something...

Ah, that was you was it, I remember now, you where the one wearing a Speedo Baseball Cap but the stitching was worn out and the S had fallen off. 

[TheBoy]

The nearest place I could get a usable Voda signal was a small kiddies playground 2 streets away.  I'm sure all the yum mums used to think I was a perve or something...

Ah, that was you was it, I remember now, you where the one wearing a Speedo Baseball Cap but the stitching was worn out and the S had fallen off.